The Jaffrey Zoning Board has granted a special exception to Southwestern Community Services to permit elderly housing on the former St. Patrick School lot.
The board also waived a site visit at its Tuesday meeting for the project. SCS wants to purchase a portion of the property to build a 24-unit housing complex for seniors ages 62 and up.
“The United Church Council has reviewed the project and we are very interested,” said Owen Houghton, representing the United Church of Jaffrey. “This could be a very good project for the community.”
The present plan, according to SCS Chief Development Officer Keith Thibault, is to purchase a 1.65 acre piece of land from the Diocese of Manchester, mostly consisting of the main parking lot. SCS would build the housing complex on that lot, allowing the diocese to keep the rest of the 14 acre lot, which includes the school building itself.
Before deliberations, the Zoning Board took public comments for the project. Robert Stephenson of the Jaffrey Historical Society said he supports any infill in town, but had concerns about what was being done with the Stone House.
Thibault said the Stone House would remain with St. Patrick Parish, as a part of the subdivision after the property is purchased. The parish still uses the Stone House, according to Thibault.
Kate Stanbury, who lives across the street from the lot, said that she wasn’t against the project in theory, but she wanted to make sure the project wouldn’t compromise future use of the other portions of the property.
“I question whether this is the appropriate location for this project,” said Stanbury. “Is this going to compromise the other portions of the property?”
In response to the question, Board Chair Lee Sawyer said that while the project doesn’t account for the entire property, it is the first time that interest has come this far.
“It’s been over a year since the school closed,” said Sawyer. “How long do you hold them up?”
With Zoning Board approval in place, Thibault and the project will now go to the Planning Board for the approval of a site plan. Thibault said there will be a presentation at the July 12 meeting.
Prior to this project, the only interest in the property came from the town itself, which looked into it as a location for a new town office facility. It was decided last year that renovating the school building would be more expensive than building something new.
The other hurdle that SCS still has to overcome is funding the project. The hope, according to Thibault, is to cover the project two-thirds by equity sources like the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority and one-third by grants such as community development block grants.
SCS will receive answers on various funding sources between July and September. Thibault said SCS should know by October whether the project is viable.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.